It was hard to imagine you could make it to the Gymnasium alive

When she stopped, the wind around her failed to brake, slamming into Lin Yi's face with a delicate fragrance.

Lin Yi had never expected this-no, this was the first time in his life he had encountered a scene like this when a member of the opposite sex walked through a public space.

He was somewhat at a loss, but the Sports Department Girl surveyed his surroundings with a clear purpose.

She soon spotted the half-open locker and the white note inside.

"'Don't swim, run'?" She reached out and tore down the note, then slammed the locker shut.

She glanced at Lin Yi and said evenly, "I knew you'd always manage to run into something strange."

"Just take things like this at face value. Only the Rules and Notice Boards won't lie to you." She waved the note, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the trash, then strode toward the swimming area on her long legs.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Coming!" Lin Yi stood ramrod straight. He felt that if he dawdled any longer, that crumpled note in the trash would serve as his example.

Of course, the main reason was that the Gymnasium Rules explicitly stated:

[Inside the Gymnasium, you may trust Gym Teachers and Athlete Students unconditionally.]

And:

[When Athlete Students invite you to attend Gymnastics Class or Swimming Class, please try to accept. They have your best interests at heart.]

A curtain of water stood along the route from the changing room to the swimming area. Beneath it was a square little pool, its water only ankle-deep.

Following the Sports Department Girl through the curtain of water, Lin Yi distinctly felt the surrounding temperature drop a little.

But he knew this was normal. The water on his body carried away some of his body heat as it naturally evaporated. He would be fine once he got into the water and adjusted.

Past the curtain of water and out of the passage, an enormous swimming pool spread out before his eyes.

Under the overhead LED lights, the rippling water across the pool shimmered. The pool was so clear that he could see the white ceramic tiles on the bottom at a glance.

With the shimmering of the water, the tiles' straight, square lines appeared distorted.

"Splash... splash... splash..."

Wave after wave of water, dotted with bubbles, spilled out of the pool into the drainage channel, looking just like waves washing up onto a beach.

Looking farther out, Lin Yi suddenly realized that this seemingly modest pool did not seem small at all. An ordinary pool was only a few dozen or a hundred meters long, but looking across this pool, he seemed unable to see its end...

The Gymnasium was only so big, yet the swimming lanes seemed to stretch forward endlessly, extending all the way beyond his field of vision.

At the edge of his vision, the lanes vanished into darkness that even the lights could not reach.

The far end of that darkness seemed to be a wind tunnel. As he gazed into the black hole, an image of a waterfall tumbling over a cliff actually surfaced in his mind.

It seemed that at the far end of the darkness lay a sheer cliff carved inside a mountain. The pool water overflowed, then broke into countless droplets that fell over the cliff, plunging toward an endless underground abyss.

He could not tell how deep the wind tunnel was or how high the cliff stood, but when Lin Yi concentrated, he seemed able to hear air currents swirling and howling through the cave, constantly battering the mountain's inner walls. He seemed able to see droplets breaking apart in the wind until they shattered into mist.

"Whoosh..."

"Woooo..."

"Ooooo..."

He felt his view constantly magnifying. He felt himself drawing ever closer to that pitch-black abyss.

But his view was also gradually brightening...

He suddenly saw a patch of hazy yellow light at the cave opening...

Slowly, he made out the source of that hazy yellow light...

It was... an Ancient Bronze Lamp.

In direct contrast to "People today cannot see the moon of ancient times, yet today's moon once shone upon the ancients," a lamp that seemed to come from a distant age still shone to this day.

As his view gradually brightened, he saw that someone held the Ancient Bronze Lamp.

It was a figure as stalwart as an iron tower, standing there like an insurmountable natural barrier.

Seemingly noticing something, the person slowly turned. Iron chains clanked against each other, "Clang, clang, clang..." as though ringing right beside his ears.

From the darkness, he cast his gaze toward Lin Yi.

Lin Yi discovered that his eyes were brighter than the Ancient Bronze Lamp, their red-gold light like burning little suns.

In the darkness, all Lin Yi could see was the Ancient Bronze Lamp's light and that dazzling gaze.

*!!!* Lin Yi's pupils slowly dilated. That figure was none other than...

A Security Guard.

A Security Guard, standing at the end of the swimming pool?

Wait?! The swimming pool...?!

He instantly realized something. Jolted into awareness, he suddenly discovered that there was no swimming pool beside him at all!

Pitch-black rock lay beneath his feet, and a cliff stood before him.

The wind swirled and howled beside his ears, sounding as though it mingled with notes from an Irish tin whistle and an ancient aria...

I'm... not inside the Gymnasium?!

That thought arose instinctively. He wanted to look at his hands and check his clothes, but he restrained himself.

He did not dare look. He feared that his "perception" would go awry.

He did not dare turn around either.

He feared seeing that Gothic Castle again, with its blend of wild cubism and strange futurism.

He did not dare look around. The moment he saw the Security Guard, he could only slowly shift his gaze toward the Ancient Bronze Lamp in the guard's hand.

I'm inside the Gymnasium. I'm beside the swimming pool!

I'm Lin Yi. My Student Number is X0230506098. I'm beside the swimming pool in the Gymnasium...

He repeated those words over and over in his mind.

I...

"Whoosh-whoosh-"

The sound of waves crashing against submerged rocks suddenly began to reach his ears...

"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-"

The sound of waves came one after another. He could almost see black swells shattering beneath the moonlight.

This is bad, this is bad... I'm Lin Yi, I'm Lin Yi, I'm Lin Yi...

My Student Number is X0230506098. I'm beside the swimming pool in the Gymnasium...

I. Am. Beside. The. Swimming. Pool!

He stared fixedly at the Ancient Bronze Lamp in the Security Guard's hand, not daring to blink for even a moment. His resolve was firmer than ever as he kept telling himself that he was beside the swimming pool inside the Gymnasium!

"Whoooosh-"

The fierce wind surged from the sea like a wave, swept past the Security Guard, and slammed into Lin Yi.

Lin Yi's expression did not change, his gaze blazing. He held his breath, ignoring every scent carried on the sea breeze.

The Ancient Bronze Lamp's flame swayed in the wind. Its fluttering light gradually distorted his shadow. He stared fixedly at the lamp, the shape of its flame seemingly imprinted in his pupils...

Only the Ancient Bronze Lamp's flame remained in his vision. Beyond it lay darkness.

A faint trace of red-gold light appeared in his eyes...

"I'm Lin Yi. My Student Number is X0230506098. I'm beside the swimming pool in the Gymnasium..."

He clenched his fists and muttered to himself. After concentrating and holding his breath for so long, his face gradually turned purplish red, and his eyes began to grow bloodshot, but he did not dare breathe.

He did not dare breathe for even a moment.

Gradually, the waves grew quieter, and the wind grew softer. He felt the darkness leaving him...

He could no longer hold his breath. His center of gravity instantly pitched forward, and he bent sharply at the waist, bracing both hands on his knees.

"Hah! Hah! Hah..."

He opened his mouth wide and gulped down a breath. Only after finding no other scent mixed into the air did he begin to breathe greedily.

But gradually, he caught another scent...

That faint, delicate bodily fragrance unique to a woman...

This seemed to be...

Her scent?

Lin Yi froze slightly. Suddenly, before his eyes was a floor covered in white ceramic tiles. His feet stood on nonslip flooring, and nearby lay the edge of the pool. Bubbly waves spilled over, flowing into the drainage channel with a rushing splash...

This is the swimming pool!!

Wild joy surfaced in his eyes, scattering that faint golden light.

He braced his hands on his knees and panted heavily for quite a while before noticing that, besides the white tiles covered in nonslip flooring, a pair of long, straight, shapely legs also occupied his field of vision...

Only then did he notice that he also seemed able to see the triangular bottom section of that dark blue, stomach-covering one-piece swimsuit...

And... bent over and panting heavily like this, he seemed... perhaps, possibly, apparently... to be facing a certain mysterious part of the Sports Department Girl?

He froze for a moment, then slowly straightened.

Only as he straightened did he notice that the Sports Department Girl had her arm extended as though to place a hand on his shoulder.

He had no time to think further.

As he stood upright, those long legs gradually came fully into view. His field of vision expanded upward from her legs until it finally encompassed her whole body...

Just as... I suspected...

I'm done for...

Thinking of the scene that might just have unfolded, and the terrifyingly close distance between him and the Sports Department Girl, he instantly felt that no amount of explanation could clear his name. The label of "pool perv" seemed to have arrived uninvited...

But when he met the Sports Department Girl's eyes, he found her gaze utterly calm.

So calm... that he wondered if he had imagined too much.

"Sorry, I just..." Lin Yi was still panting a little, but he tried to make his breathing less heavy. "I didn't mean to..."

"I understand." The Sports Department Girl looked at him, her tone flat. "As long as you're all right."

"Huh?" Lin Yi froze. Only then did he remember that the girl before him was someone Xu Shunkang called Boss. Judging by her bearing, she was probably a leading figure among the Athlete Students, too. She must know a great deal, so presumably she would not get the wrong idea.

And had he been able to "come back to his senses" so quickly just now because she had helped him?

After all, yesterday evening, when his thoughts had wandered, Wei Liang had "pulled him back" by patting his shoulder.

"Sorry... but thank you."

He did not know what to say, so he could only thank her first.

The Sports Department Girl shook her head slightly. "It had nothing to do with me. You'd already come back to your senses before I touched you."

"Hm?" Lin Yi froze slightly. Even he was a little taken aback.

I saved myself again?

I could even save myself from that?

"I've never seen anyone with greater spiritual sensitivity than yours." The Sports Department Girl looked toward the end of the pool. "You 'zoned out' for about ten seconds just now, and your body temperature dropped to freezing... I'm very curious what you saw."

"Huh?" Astonishment appeared on Lin Yi's face. He had taken an entire trip to the seaside, yet in her eyes, he had merely...

"Zoned out for ten seconds"?

He lowered his head and checked his watch. Since his quartz watch was waterproof, he had kept it on.

It was now 15:00. Indeed, not even another minute had passed.

He followed the direction the Sports Department Girl was facing and looked toward the end of the pool, suddenly going completely still.

The pool... has an end?! His mouth fell open. Although the swimming pool was rather long, it had none of the unfathomable, seemingly endless depth he had seen earlier.

The pool was over a hundred meters long, with dim lighting at its far end.

And hanging on the wall at that end was... an Ancient Bronze Lamp.

Luckily, you only followed my sensations to "sense" it. If you'd obtained those "sensations" from that lamp, then I'd really start having a headache...

Without warning, Tian Bufan's earlier words sprang into his mind.

So... what happened just now was what happens when I obtain "sensations" directly from the lamp...?

In just ten seconds, he had nearly lost his life in that "vision." If what he had seen had not been a Security Guard carrying an Ancient Bronze Lamp, but something strange instead, might he have "died" there in some unimaginable way?

His body living, his mind dead?

Or something else?

"Of course the pool has an end." The Sports Department Girl's voice sounded beside his ear. "So what did you see just now?"

"I saw... wait, can I tell you?" Lin Yi had been about to speak, but he remembered the terror on Xu Shunkang's face when he had mentioned the word "basement" earlier.

Clearly, the Athlete Students had some sort of boundary to their awareness.

"If I ask, tell me. If it's information I shouldn't know, I'll interrupt you beforehand." The Sports Department Girl folded her arms in front of her and looked at him coolly.

"Oh, okay..." Lin Yi nodded gratefully. "I just saw a sea..."

Before the word "sea" had even finished leaving his mouth, he suddenly discovered that his body had become very, very light, as though it had lost gravity...

He found his view changing again as he drew steadily closer to the pool's surface...

Had he... been hurled out by the Sports Department Girl with lightning speed after saying just one sentence?

This is what you fucking meant by "interrupt"?!

Come on! Are you kidding me?

Splash!

Even as he crashed into the swimming pool, throwing up a huge spray, he still could not understand how someone could toss him like a sandbag given his weight!

And she was a girl who did not look muscular at all!

It was hard to imagine chatting perfectly happily with a pretty upperclassman, only for her to suddenly dart forward and hit you with a Seismic Toss.

Did this count as... a physical interruption?

So... so brutal!

He suddenly understood a little. Perhaps she had earned the title "Boss" through "hard-hitting" methods.

Utterly bewildered, he surfaced in the pool, shook his head, and looked toward the edge. A pair of long legs was already standing there.

He raised his head and saw the Sports Department Girl's backlit figure. Beneath the LED lights shining behind her, she looked like a god of war standing beneath the sun.

Without much hesitation, she braced her hands against the edge of the pool, slowly lowered herself sideways to sit there, and slipped her fair, slender legs into the water. Then she casually scooped up some pool water and splashed it beside her legs.

She turned her head to look at Lin Yi, an extremely complicated expression appearing in her clear eyes.

Finally, she spoke slowly, without mentioning her physical interruption at all. "It's hard to imagine you could make it to the Gymnasium alive."